Safer World

Ella Bella is keeping the world safe from...




Sweetie!

Buckeyes...No Not Me!

I love to put Buckeyes out this time of year. Buckeyes get scooped up for good luck. Folks grab a couple each year to carry in their pockets. Most important to me buckeyes bring out smiles.

Now this year buckeyes have brought a entirely new depth of smiles to my house. You see this year the cats and dogs have entered into a limited time coalition. The cats drop the Buckeyes on the floor, so that the dogs can play with them.

Now I have no real desire to clean up, chase or step on these little gems. Three of my four clowns are quite obvious when they have something in their mouth. A simple "drop it" command will consistently produce a buckeye with the predictable clowns. But Shaker, well, he is bigger and can easily cheek the buckeye.

But it turns out Shaker is quite predictable too. You see if I look at Shaker and he doesn't have anything in his mouth he just comes over for pets. If he has one of the buckeyes in his mouth, he gets a gleam in his eye and runs full out down the hallway.

Silly boy gives me the same look every time I catch up with him..."How did you know I had a buckeye?"

Where's Ella?

The Players: Ella and Shaker

The Playing Field: A Destroyed Pet Bed

The Game: Hide, Seek and Growl

Oh did I mention that they were in a complete and total de-stuff everything in sight kind of mood all day?

Well It Was Red and Thick!

Wednesday is mop the hardwoods day whether they need it or not, and with all those motley dog feet and a teenager most times they need it!

Anyway I am merrily mopping my way down the hallway and I see a red blob in the foyer. I stopped and gasped. Oh my goodness, my mind races ahead, that is exactly what I was warned to watch for with Music. So I drop my mop and run for my phone which is conveniently located right next to the paper towels.

I hit my vets number while I rip off a paper towel and head back to the blob. With the vets number ringing, I scooped up the red blob and immediately realize...it isn't blood! Oops, I say into the phone---it's Kim G. and it's a false alarm. Yes yes I am a little sensitive about Music right now but it is my Music!

So what is my mystery glob? Strawberry Jam! Yes it was Strawberry Jam. Now how on earth did strawberry jam end up in the foyer? Good thing I had the mop close by!

Pupdate Fun Pics

The puppies are 7 weeks old today and they are busy busy busy.

Let's see in a matter of minutes--they untied Kathy's shoes, attempted to eat my Merrill clogs, bit fingers and toes, chewed electrical cords and...

Anyway here are some of the fun pics we took tonight. Connie will have formal pictures up on her website soon ( http://davenitchcardigans.webs.com/puppiesavailable.htm).

I think that Kathy caught this picture at the exact moment that I yelped!


Isn't that a great picture of Kerri? Who says getting 7 wk old puppies to stand still is easy?

Music is HOME!!!!!!!!

'Ya see that pillow she is leaning on...Yep it is mine!


Yeah Music is home from maternity leave.

I really don't have adequate words to describe how much I missed her. I missed her stealing my pillow. I missed her snarling in my ear when I moved her to gain some bed space. I missed her keeping control of my pack of clowns.

Now I will add.... Music is retired! I just heard her over my shoulder and she said that I need to announce her retirement with greater force. So here goes....MUSIC IS RETIRED!

While my Ms. Music was on maternity she became quite ill with some mysterious stomach issue. We were not entirely sure she was going to make it. During the darkest moments of this illness I promised her that I would never make her show again. All she had to do was get well. She did indeed recover beautifully, and now I will live up to my end of the bargain. Music will never enter another show ring for any reason. She will live out her retirement as my companion, top bitch (not to be confused with Queen Bitch--that's my title) and chief couch potato!

So raise a glass and say a cheer with me--Music is well, Music is home, and Music is retired. Cheers!

Pupdate Week 6

The puppies are 6 weeks old, and it truly is hard to believe how much they have grown and changed.

Editor's Note: 1) The marking based name of each girl is between the profile shot and head shot. 2) Sorry about the eye reflections--all the puppies have black eyes.


Comma Marked Girl




Full Blaze Girl






Brindle Girl




Does she look like her daddy or what?

Lighter Tri Girl




Tri- Girl



White eared girl

.

Oh my Goodness...

While I was picking up supplies for the weekend, Kathy decided to be "helpful" and take the dogs "outside fence." So here's how it goes...

On Wednesday's before show weekends I bathe, blow out and trim nails. Then Thurs they have to stay clean except for feet. Easy enough right? Turns out no. Kathy forgot to read the keep the dogs clean memo and let Ella play in the backyard pool. What's worse or should I say funny--is she took video of the event, and it is just after Ella jumps in the pool that she realizes the depth of her errant behavior.

Who's My Dirty Girl?

Lisa and I were standing in the backyard watching the Cardis three have a wonderful time. As we watched them play I commented that they looked clean enough for the weekend.

Then about 3 minutes later I didn't see Ella. Oh trust me that is never a good sign. So I called for her. Can you hear me calling Ella Bella where are you? Then I see her cute Cardi head pop up through the yew bush that adorns the water feature. Crap! I can only guess that she has been rolling in mud because I only see her big 'ole ears and eyes.

I called her out from the bushes and saw that my guess was absolutely correct. She was covered in mud. Well there goes my grand plan to skip the bath this week!

P.S. The first picture was snapped just as Ella ran up to the camera. I thought it was way too cute!

Pupdate Week 5

It is so hard to believe that the puppies are already 5 weeks old. They are very mobile, and feisty! Their little puppy teeth are coming in and well let's just say they are ready willing and able to use them! (Now I know they don't look so feisty here but this picture was taken after all the individual shots.



Each of the puppies was baited with cheese. Turns out they really like cheese!

Comma Marked Girl



Brindle Girl




White Eared Girl




Lighter Tri Girl






Tri Girl




Full Blaze Girl

Laurel and Hardy Do A Dog Show

Okay picture it....Alec leaves to show the Tibetan Mastiff and leaves Bekka and I to groom ourselves and 5, yes I said 5 dogs, and get to the show ring by 12:30p. No problem right? Wrong!

First thing out of the gate Alec calls and says parking is a nightmare and we need to get there early! Crap! We went to DEF CON 5!

Bekka grabs the first dog, while I did my hair and clothes. First dog goes off without a hitch. We are grooving right? Wrong! Second dog has a big ole dippity do in her hair. Great! We fuss a bit and fix it to OK levels. Then I go to fix her face...where's the chalk stick? Crap it is in the chalk bucket, so I pull it out and blow it off. Apparently I didn't blow it off well enough, as I go white chalk dust all over her black face. Just great! Third dog no problems.

Then I set to grooming the last two while Bekka gets dressed. By the time I finish them I have enough crap on my hands and no towels anywhere. Crap! Cindy always brings the smutch towels. Yuck--no time to waste so I wipe my hands in the grass. YUCK!

So as soon as Bekka is dressed I went into bark orders mode. Poor Bekka she is running loading crates, water bottles, finding keys...well just generally throwing things in. Then I roll up the awning and water pours down on my shirt. CRAP!!!

We load dogs and ourselves and pull out. As we are leaving the campground, Bekka says "what does gate ajar mean?" Crap! The Malibu hatch is loose. I jumped out closed the gate so poor baby doesn't bounce out of the Malibu.

We made it to the show site with 2 boys and 3 girls--one of those girls is flagging everything in sight. Oh the walk to the show ring was just wonderful. Dogs weaving in front of us, pooping, peeing, and generally trying everything in the book to knock us down.

We finally make it to the ring with time to spare! YEAH!!!

Well the ring results were quite entertaining--let's see Ella gave me the paw, but took reserve. Krissy decided to eat grass instead of showing. Now on the positive side she gave the judge a good laugh. Now little Dovey gave the best show of all--she took WB, then went on to take BOW for the 4 point major cross over! Yeah for DOVEY!!!!!

Who's Ear?

I couldn't help but giggle when I saw this big 'ole Corgi ear popping out of the crate. So here's a test for all you readers out in internet land. Who belongs to this Corgi ear?

Ella and Me

My dear friend Lisa has been kidding me that I need to write a book about my (mis) adventures with Ella. She says everyone would forget about Marley...

So the latest caper begins at Lisa's house as Ella is in season and Ruff Ruff decided that if Ella is in season then he can't eat. Apparently while Lisa was out for a bit she chewed our green rocking chair, knocked over a lamp and broke the bulb. (No blood shed just carnage!)

So let's add up the tally in just the last month--

One cherry cupboard corner

One hand tooled banister spiral

One crown molding trim piece

3 Redwood deck boards

2 Screen doors

On the cheaper side of the equation--

untold shoe laces

both pull tights off my Merrill sandals--good thing I have no pride and am perfectly willing to wear them as is..

4 zippers out of the dog beds (yes I am making the dogs still use them--they just don't hold their stuffing the way they should)

Well I should add some of her other misadventures

one leg off an Ethan Allen entry chair

untold Entry Rugs (I gave up and we no longer adorn the entry with a rug. I wonder how that is going to work for us come winter?)

another Redwood deck board

2 screens (yes my handy man repaired them and you guessed it--ate threw them again)

shoes--lost count a long time ago.

hmmmmm I know that I am missing something.....

Now the Ella camp swears that my handy man is smearing steak juice on things. And trust me that is Ella's story and she is sticking to it.

Pupdate Week 4

Oh my goodness what a day. Music had a rough night and day complete with a gazillion tests but she has bounced back and is doing well again! (Check out her lovely pink vet tape!)

Now on to the pupdate. They are growing and growing . They are certainly more active than a week ago.

Full Blaze girl


Tri Girl



Lighter Tri Girl





White eared girl





Brindle Girl





Comma Marked Girl ( I have to confess this one is my favorite. I just love her head in the making, her markings, and and and ...) And oh did she put up a fight about a stack picture so....she sits!



After pictures they were all tired out...